mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

Diaries

Since there have been a couple of board posts discussing the [unnecessary] dichotomy of choosing Jaylen Brown or Caris LeVert, I thought I'd look at the stats of past 5 star wings to see what you could reasonably expect from Brown.

I used ESPN recruit rankings. I first looked at the stats of 5* freshmen who were labeled as SGs or SFs (i.e. Russel was listed as a SG on ESPN) from the 2014 class. Next, I went from 2014 to 2007 and picked out SGs or SFs who were ranked as a top 5 recruit in that class (because Jaylen Brown is a top 5 recruit), because I think that you can reasonably expect more from the #2 ranked player than the #20 ranked player. I know top 5 is arbitrary, and maybe next time I'd look at all players given the same ranking that Brown received (96)...although I'm sure those grades are also relatively arbitrary.

Charts:

5*Wings

ESPN 2014 Rankings

School

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Minutes

Proj. Draft #

Stanley Johnson

Arizona

13.8

6.5

1.7

28.4

8

Justin Jackson

UNC

10.7

3.7

2.3

26.7

N/A

Theo Pinson

UNC

2.8

3

1.5

12.5

N/A

Kelly Oubre

Kansas

9.3

5

0.8

21

11

D'Angelo Russell

OSU

19.3

5.7

5

33.9

3

Isaiah Whitehead

Seton Hall

12

3.9

3.5

27.8

N/A

Justise Winslow

Duke

12.6

6.5

2.1

29.1

5

Devin Booker

Kentucky

10

2

1.1

21.5

18

Rashad Vaughn

UNLV

17.8

4.8

1.6

32.2

33

James Blackmon Jr.

Indiana

15.7

5.3

1.5

30

N/A

Grayson Allen

Duke

4.4

1

0.4

9.2

N/A

Keita Bates-Diop

OSU

3.8

2.1

0.5

9.9

N/A

Devin Robinson

Florida

6.4

2.8

0.7

19

N/A

Jae'Sean Tate

OSU

8.8

5

0.3

22

N/A

Melo Trimble

Maryland

16.2

3.9

3

33.5

N/A

Average:

10.9

4.1

1.7

23.8

13

Top 5 Wings

2014-2007

School

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Minutes

Draft #

Andrew Wiggins

Kansas

17.1

5.9

1.5

32.8

1

Jabari Parker

Duke

19.1

8.7

1.2

30.7

2

Shabazz Muhammad

UCLA

17.9

5.2

0.8

30.8

14

Kyle Anderson

UCLA

12.2

8.7

5

31.6

30

Austin Rivers

Duke

15.5

3.4

2.1

33.2

10

Michael Gilchrist

Kentucky

11.9

7.4

1.9

31.1

2

Bradley Beal

Florida

14.8

6.7

2.2

34.2

3

Harrison Barnes

UNC

16.3

5.5

1.3

29.3

7

Avery Bradley

Texas

11.6

2.9

2.1

29.5

19

Xavier Henry

Kansas

13.4

4.4

1.5

27.5

12

Eric Gordon

Indiana

20.9

3.3

2.4

34.7

7

O.J. Mayo

USC

20.7

4.5

3.3

36.8

3

Kyle Singler

Duke

16.2

6.9

2

33

33

Average:

16.0

5.7

2.1

31.9

11

Caris Levert (Jr yr)

Michigan

14.9

4.9

3.7

35.8

Stats compared to LeVert:

2014 5* Wings

More points

4/14

More points + reb

2/14

> 30 minutes

4/14

Top 5 Wings

More points

8/13

More points + reb

5/13

> 30 minutes

10/13

Stayed > 1 year

3/13

Some interesting take-aways:

There is, unsurprisingly, a wide range of productivity from 5* freshmen. If you are taking any 5* player, the chances that they can produce at LeVert's level is very low.

That being said, when you look at 5* wings that were ranked in the top 5 of their recruiting class (none of the current freshmen SG's or SF's were top 5), the variability drastically decreases, and productivity goes way up.

I don't know if Brown has the same hype as a Wiggins or Parker, but based on past recruits' performances, it seems likely that he could step in and be extremely productive.

Something that I guess I never truly appreciated enough about LeVert is his assist numbers. While I took LeVert's abbreviated stats from this season, which heavily samples games against scrubs, it is still impressive to see how many assists he had a game compard to other great wings. Losing LeVert would not only mean loss of a lot of experience, but also the loss of a great floor general.

One (somewhat unsurprising) thing is that almost every single top 5-rated wing went pro after their freshmen year. It leads me to believe that we'd either get one good-great year out of Brown, or a year where he didn't perform at the same level as a LeVert and then came back and tried to improve his game. I think it definitely removes the advantage of saying "well you might get multiple years out of Brown," because the only way that happens is if he doesn't play that well. In other words, I'm saying that I'd go with past precedent over the (well-intentioned) words of a high school senior when it comes to staying for more than one year.

All of this may very well be moot, as we have no clue of either Brown's or LeVert's intentions. It also doesn't give any clear answer to the pointless game of "pick one." However, it does show that...getting Brown would be awesome!

Michigan entered the season with an ostensibly high-powered “Big Three” – Caris LeVert had superstar potential and a dazzling arsenal of offensive skills; Derrick Walton was an aggressive, tough, and relentlessly driving point guard; Zak Irvin was a reliable artillery piece with plenty of room to grow. In hindsight, all fell short of expectations in their own way: Caris suffered under the burden of being an alpha dog, Derrick was perpetually nagged by a toe injury, and Zak’s shot abandoned him without an offsetting improvement elsewhere.

Eventually, injuries whittled the Wolverines down to just one of their three musketeers – Irvin. With all three, Zak often took an overly deferential role; without his running mates beside him and with Michigan’s season locked in firmly as a disappointment, he thrived and expanded his game, finding success with the ball in his hands and providing one of the brightest spots of a largely wasted year.

* * *

A Rocky Position Switch

Judging Zak by his aggregate body of work as a sophomore provides a much different picture than evaluating his strengths near the end of the year. On the whole, he averaged 14.4 points, 1.5 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 45 / 35 / 69 (2P% / 3P% / FT%) – solid, albeit inefficient numbers. With his move from the four to the three, he assumed a much larger responsibility in Michigan’s offense: operating from the left side of the floor opened up dribble handoffs into the middle of the lane (as well as other opportunities driving with his dominant right hand) and offered a bigger role than the one he occupied in end-of-the-rotation minutes as a freshman.

He didn’t adjust well, especially at first. More so than most former threes in Beilein’s system, he still remained one-dimensional much like he was two years ago – though considerably less efficient. His playmaking – which was missing for the first several months of the season – was sorely needed after turf toe sapped Derrick Walton’s explosiveness and Michigan’s offense eventually contorted to put a nearly impossible amount of pressure on Caris LeVert to generate quality looks. Between uncertainty at the four and five spots (Kam Chatman, while playing, utterly wrecked Michigan’s spacing and the cast of inexperienced posts struggled to replicate Jordan Morgan’s pick-and-roll prowess), it was a mess – a stark departure from the two seasons prior.

Here’s how Zak compared to all of Michigan’s other starting three men (starting after Beilein’s messy first year):

Though it’s tough to compare a sophomore to some of Michigan’s better players in recent memory, Irvin was a five-star and did have an impressive and encouraging freshman season – one that suggested a possible breakout season as a sophomore. It didn’t happen. The two things that stand out most are his low assist rate and free throw rate (and percentage).

2011 Tim Hardaway and 2013 Nik Stauskas weren’t relied on to create offense because of the excellent passing of Darius Morris and Trey Burke, respectively – Zak wasn’t able to provide his teammates with enough quality looks and Michigan desperately needed that. Irvin’s low free throw rate is disappointing for a different reason: after a freshman year as Just a Shooter™, a natural development track and much more playing time might have made Irvin into a player who could attack the basket. Like his passing, his ability to drive and score improved over the course of the season, but on the whole, it was lacking. Because of his less effective outside shooting, a reliable way to score – from the free throw stripe – would have been ideal, but Irvin only averaged 2.4 free throw attempts in 36.2 minutes per game.

Even with the late surge, Irvin was too one-dimensional. In hindsight, expecting a Stauskasesque leap from spot-up shooter to all-around offensive menace was probably too much. Fortunately Zak did diversify his game and flashed signs of a well-rounded game on the offensive end, but Michigan’s season was effectively over at that point.

Took some time and did another unhealthy and obsessive Harbaugh wallpaper. This time I noticed that one of his press-conference photos had him giving a relatively Godfather-like stare, so I ran with it. I hope you enjoy another off-season wallpaper effort. As always, constructive criticism and/or suggestions are welcome. Go Blue!

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The 2015 Spring Football Game presented by PNC Bank will be held at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, April 4, at noon EDT. The spring game is free and open to the public.

The gates to the Big House will open at 10 a.m., as events will surround the football team's final spring practice. The Big Ten Network will televise the annual spring game starting at 12 p.m. In addition, the football game will be broadcast on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit.

The typical prohibited items list applies for the spring game and all activities at Michigan Stadium.

Following is a list of everything fans need to know about the annual spring game and activities:

Parking: The lots around Michigan Stadium owned and operated by the University of Michigan will be free and open to the public starting at 7 a.m.; however, availability in these lots is extremely limited. Pioneer High School will be charging $20 for cars and $50 for RVs on Saturday.

ADA Parking: A limited number of parking spots for guests with mobility impairments will be available (free of charge) in the parking area east of the William Davidson Player Development Center and can be accessed off of Stadium Blvd. A State-Issued Disability Parking Placard will be required in order to gain admittance into this area of the parking lot and it will open at7 a.m.

Gates, Restrooms and Concessions: The Michigan Stadium gates will open at 10 a.m. Most restrooms will be open and concessions will be available at several locations throughout the stadium. Please see the nearest Michigan Stadium Event Team Member for assistance on game day.

MDen Stores: The MDen stores located inside Michigan Stadium will be open for fans to purchase official Michigan merchandise. The stores are located in the north end zone, the south end zone just inside Gate 4 and the southwest corner inside Crisler Center.

Beneficiaries: Beginning in 2015, the Michigan Spring Game will be leveraged to raise both awareness and donations for the Trail to the Victors Big House 5K Race Beneficiaries. The 2015 race beneficiaries include Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels, Ann Arbor YMCA, Dance Marathon, 826 Michigan, Project Healthy Schools and Special Olympics of Michigan. The beneficiaries will be located on the south stadium concourse between Gates 2 and 4 during the Spring Game to share information about their respective organizations. There are several ways you can show your support for these local organizations. Please visit http://www.mgoblue.com/bighouse5k/ to volunteer for race day, make a donation or register to run!

Radio Broadcast: The Michigan/IMG Sports Network will broadcast the 2015 spring football game held at Michigan Stadium. Jim Brandstatter, Dan Dierdorf and Doug Karsch will be on-hand to provide play-by-play, analysis and reports on the Wolverines. The broadcast can be heard on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. In addition, fans can listen online at MGoBlue.com. Coverage will begin at 11:45 a.m. and end at approximately 2:45 p.m.

The spring game will be broadcast on the following radio affiliates: Alma (WFYC 1280 AM), Ann Arbor (WTKA 1050 AM), Detroit (WXYT 97.1 FM), Grand Rapids (WOOD 1300 AM), Muskegon (WOOD 106.9 FM) and Toledo (WLQR 106.5 FM). The game will also be broadcast on Sirius XM Radio -- channels 93 (Sirius) and 195 (XM).

Big Ten Network Broadcast: Matt Shepard (play-by-play), former Wolverine defensive back Marcus Ray (analyst) and Sue Ann Robak (field reporter) will broadcast Michigan's spring game live on the Big Ten Network (BTN). The network will come on the air at noon and run until the completion of the scrimmage at 2:30 p.m.

Michigan Football Highlights and Interviews: The athletic department will have a complete highlight package and interviews with head coach Jim Harbaugh and players available on MGoBlue.com following the conclusion of the spring game.

PNC Bank Kick for Cash: The athletic department will randomly select one fan to attempt field goals with the chance to win a PNC gift card up to $300. The fan will have the opportunity to kick from three different spots -- a 10-, 20- or 30-yard kick -- with varying prizes for each of the three distances.

Towsley Museum: The Towsley Football Museum located inside Schembechler Hall will be open to fans from 9 a.m. to noon. The museum chronicles the history and passion of Michigan football.

Golf Course Sidewalk Sale: Be sure to stop by the University of Michigan Golf Course before or after the Spring Game on April 4 for the spring sidewalk sale. Running 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., everything in the shop will be at least 15% off with some items up to 40% off. In addition, a large selection of hats will be available for only $5! This is your chance to get your hands on brand new gear at great prices.

Spring football. For the average joe fan, it's the final drop of Michigan Athletics they'll taste until the Fall now that Basketball season ended earlier than we would have liked and Hockey.....sigh, don't get me started.

Spring football culminates in the annual spring game (or in last year's case, the Spring Stretchy and Punting Exhibition).

But it always wasn't like that. For many, many years Michigan played a Blue-White game every single season up until Lloyd Carr first starting messing with it in 2000 when one of the squads were spotted a 17-0 lead to begin the game...

Being the insane statistics and numbers fan that I am, I have been doing a lot of research using the Google Newspaper archives to look the history of the Michigan Spring Game.

While the Google News archives are not complete by any stretch since there are many, many years and months missing from the Michigan Daily archives, I found a pretty decent chunck of information. Not just from the Daily, but the Toledo Blade and other newspapers from around the state of Michigan that covered Michigan Football at the time.The building of this list of spring game scores will only continue until it's 100% complete. I am already planning several trips to Bentley Library to research spring game info in addition to information on several other sports in my quest to build a SuperGuide for all Varsity sports at Michigan.

The only other instance that I know of a school documenting their spring game history is Nebraska, who has scores going back to 1950.

Yesterday, I posted the eight teams you should root for the most in this year’s Sweet 16. With games starting tonight, here’s the next eight. As a reminder, the top eight teams you should root for, in order, are Wichita State, Oklahoma, Arizona, Gonzaga, North Carolina State, Utah, Xavier, and Notre Dame.

Caution: hot takes.

9. North Carolina

“I have horrible taste in blazers blah blah blah”

I really don’t know what to say about this North Carolina team. I don’t like it, I don’t dislike it; I don’t think they’ve been particularly impressive, but on the other hand, they haven’t exactly been underwhelming either. As a team, they can’t shoot worth a lick, but the Heels feature a seemingly endless army of tall, variably athletic guys with overlapping skill sets. Recruiting guru approval only carried Carolina so far – there’s ridiculous Thad Matta-like consternation over the state of the program in recent years. Marcus Paige, the Heels’ go-to guy and only reliable shooter, hasn’t fulfilled All-American promise, and the rest of the team is still very young.

It’s perfectly fair to say that UNC acquitted themselves well this year despite failing to meet some of the loftiest annual expectations of any program in the country. Being among college basketball loyalty has its pluses and minuses: UNC has the facilities, financial resources, and recruiting cachet to remain forever stocked with talent – though this group seems starkly lacking in that there’s not a surefire NBA player in the whole bunch – but there’s the looming expectation that they have to remain extremely competitive in the ACC and must contend for Final Fours and National Championships.

Carolina finished 24-11 and fifth in the league, and although they managed a surprise run to the ACC Tournament final (where they lost to Notre Dame), they weren’t in the hunt for the regular season conference crown and were swept by their hated rival Duke, who has the future lottery picks and number one seed that Carolina envies. It’s tough.

Still, it’s not easy to feel bad for them. They’re still a four-seed and their front line of bouncy junior center Brice Johnson, burly sophomore power forward Kennedy Meeks (who is battling a knee injury), and lanky freshman swingman Justin Jackson will provide an interesting matchup against Wisconsin, though I think the Badgers have an advantage in each individual matchup. UNC isn’t a realistic Final Four contender – they’d need to beat Wisconsin and Arizona, a tall task for a teams that are far more well-rounded than UNC is.

Whatever. They’re nine.

10. The Monstars Kentucky

Karl-Anthony Towns is a national treasure and my goodness that young man can play some basketball.

[30 for 30 voice]

What if I told you, that in college basketball’s greatest bastion, in an era of increasing selfishness and commercialization, there was a group of young men who put aside their egos and banded together to play basketball The Right Way, with tenacious defense, egalitarian offense, and a desire to win, first and foremost, without any thought of personal gain.

That’s Kentucky. I’m not sure if they’re better than the Anthony Davis – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Cats back in 2012 (who received the top overall seed and romped to a national title), but this iteration of Cal’s Wildcats are four games away from the first undefeated season in almost 40 years. They have future NBA stars – Karl-Anthony Towns, in addition to being a funny and kinda weird dude, should be the top overall pick in my opinion, and junior (junior!) center Willie Cauley-Stein projects to be a plus-plus defender and rim protector at the next level. On average, they play about 23 minutes per regulation game, because they’re backed up by more freakishly huge, athletic, and imposing big guys.

Because it’s Kentucky – home to college basketball’s answer to Alabama and Florida State’s football fanbases – and because the team is guided by John Calipari, a shameless self-promoter who inspires precious little confidence in he and his program’s ethical legitimacy, for reasons both fair and unfair, people don’t like Kentucky. That’s fine. That’s why I have them way down at #9.

BUT LOOK AT THE PLAYERS. The rotation is just stupidly deep and talented: UK’s two best guards (arguably, but in my opinion) are Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker, and they each come off the bench behind the Harrison twins, who were top ten prospects two years ago. Trey Lyles is 6’10 and slightly miscast as a small forward – he does play some power forward – but any offensive speed bumps are rendered inconsequential by Kentucky’s otherworldly defense. This team is insanely fun to watch and if these guys were coached by almost anyone else, they’d be celebrated.

It’s Kentucky and it’s Coach Cal though, so a legitimately fun and possibly historical outfit is side-eyed with suspicion. Instead of focusing on the negatives, let’s focus on the positives: these guys all came in with insane high school accolades and they eventually fit together as a team and fulfill whatever hokey platitudes about teamwork you’d like to throw out there. And they’re so damn good.

That’s my case for bumping up UK from the cellar of these rankings. I’ll be completely honest, the fanbase is spoiled rotten and Cal rubs me the wrong way too (even if I think exploiting the one-and-done loophole is good business and admirable in its own way). If they go undefeated, we’ll have to revisit this, but they’re a buzzsaw and we don’t get to watch teams play at this level in college basketball very often.

11. Wisconsin

This is the second result for “Bo Ryan incredulous” on Google image search.

“But Alex, they’re in the Big Ten too! Conference camaraderie, right?” “You said yourself that this wasn’t a typical Wisconsin team in that they’re actually fun to watch on offense!” “I’d rather these guys win than say, Michigan State.” “I actually don’t mind Wisconsin.”

You know what, straw men? You’re wrong. Despite everything, it’s still Wisconsin – the Trohl Center; Bo Ryan’s ceaseless badgering (hah) of the refs; defense that borders on dirty until one of their generic white dudes sticks his foot under yours on a jump shot and then, you know what, it’s just straight up dirty; it’s Josh Gasser’s bank shot in Crisler, it’s Ben Brust’s heave in Madison, it’s everything that’s regressive and problematic about college hoops! (I actually don’t believe that last part, but I was on a roll).

I’ve never been a huge participant in the Great Conference Wars of college athletics, to be quite honest. I think that the SEC hivemind that stumps for their hated rivals in out-of-conference football games is absurdly warped and stupid. I think that, you know what, even if there’s tangible benefits to a team winning, I just might not like that team. That’s it. Wisconsin’s current team isn’t all that bad – Bronson Koenig has been an awesome surprise, Frank Kaminsky is obviously the dude, and Nigel Hayes is talented and endearing. But this Wisconsin team carries the ghost of all of their predecessors and the less enjoyable things that come with them. More than anything though, I don’t like Wisconsin because they’re good. It’s not really that much more complicated than that.

* * *

I do find myself in a quandary however. After each Badger win, this CBS guy Jon Rothstein tweets, verbatim, “Death. Taxes. Bo Ryan.” While I do enjoy that Bo Ryan is juxtaposed with each of those horrible things, it’s tired and roundly mocked on Twitter after Wisconsin victories. If Rothstein’s right though, what happens if we topple the great undead tax collector? Death and taxes would be vanquished forever!

Now, that sounds good, but let’s pause for a minute. If the unholy triumvirate of death, taxes, and Bo Ryan were to be defeated, we’d have immortality, 100% of our earnings, and no more Wisconsin in the tournament. Immortality sounds great, but it really would probably be the shittiest thing ever; taxes are an unfortunate necessity and our civilization would collapse completely without them. So, yeah, we need Bo Ryan to keep winning. And if Wisconsin manages to hoist the first national championship trophy in a decade-and-a-half for the Big Ten, so help me, I’m gonna stick another needle in my Bucky Badger voodoo doll.

This riff probably didn’t make any sense, and I’m sorry for that. Go Heels.

12. West Virginia

♫ Country Roads, take me home ♫

Since WVU is probably going to play Kentucky’s game and, in the process, try to debase the beauty of the game of basketball as much as they possibly can, I’m not really a fan. Perhaps I’m too aestheticist, but for the love of all that’s good and pure about hoops, I can’t stand West Virginia’s brand of basketball. Play physical defense and dare the ref to give you five fouls; run offense that can most generously be described as “rudimentary” and just chase offensive rebounds; and, really, play the most extreme form of defense possible – the Mountaineers are first nationally in forcing turnovers and worst nationally in allowing free throws. Get a steal or hack the shit out of someone. It’s ugly. It’s not fun. It’s West Virginia hoops! Bob Huggins just told his team to run Beilein’s offense when he got there because he didn’t want to install his own. I’m not a fan of Huggins, but that’s not really here nor there.

And, really, since they’re almost definitely going to lose to Kentucky, it’s not worth our time to discuss them much further.

13. UCLA

Life’s not fair.

Firstly, UCLA probably should not have made the tournament in the first place. They were rewarded for testing themselves with a murderer’s row of a schedule, but only tallied one truly great win – over Utah at home. Colorado State and Temple, for example, probably should have gotten in ahead of the Bruins, and that UCLA missed out on playing one of the First Four games in Dayton was a complete joke. Their wins in the tournament don’t validate their inclusion – the committee had to work with the data available at the time and made the incorrect choice.

Beyond that though, UCLA was the beneficiary of the biggest officiating controversy of the tournament thus far. They led SMU comfortably in the 6 / 11 game in the Round of 64 before falling apart in the second half and the Mustangs led the Bruins by seven points with a minute and a half there. In all fairness, SMU completely collapsed down the stretch, but the game winning “three” – screenshotted above – came as a result of an incredibly dubious goaltending call. SMU’s Yanick Moreira went up for the rebound on a ball that was clearly off the mark by about a foot. The Mustangs bungled the subsequent possession and wound up losing by one, 60-59.

UCLA then dispatched 14-seed UAB easily in the Round of 32, setting up a rematch of the infamous “Adam Morrison crying” game with Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen.

They’re the worst team left in the field, per Kenpom, and quite frankly, they shouldn’t be here because of multiple reasons. Sorry, UCLA, but we’re going to hold that against you. Hopefully the Bulldogs exact Morrison’s revenge.

14. Louisville

NO. THIS IS WRONG. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOO.

I was on the floor of the Georgia Dome for Michigan’s tragic defeat in the National Championship two years ago so it should really go without saying that I absolutely, unequivocally hate Louisville for that. That block was clean, dammit. The happiness in the picture above inversely correlated with my misery that fateful April night and I probably won’t be able to stop wondering what could have been if a few more possessions had gone our way.

That said, there’s more to hate about Louisville! I mentioned West Virginia’s brutish style above and Louisville is much of the same, except they have the recruiting ability to aspire to be something greater than that. Right now, Louisville might actually surpass the Mountaineers as the ugliest team left in the tournament – their offense is a mess without any spacing and each game of theirs seems to devolve into a 1980’s Big East bar fight. Montrezl Harrell is an exciting player who can dunk about as well as anybody in college basketball, but even he falls in love with terrible mid-range or three-point shots. Chris Jones, the most baffling and frustrating player on the team was kicked off the squad about a month ago.

On top of that, Rick Pitino’s often a grating figure – consider this wholly unnecessary attack towards a college kid in a press conference in response to a wholly reasonable question -- Papa John’s pizza sucks, and Louisville is and forever will be the little brother to Kentucky. Between their style and the championship game two years ago, watching Louisville’s been excruciating on more than one level. The Cards were fortunate to receive a lifeboat from the ACC after the dissolution of the Big East (and a brief purgatorial stay in the American Conference) and, unfortunately, between Pitino and conference relevance, Louisville doesn’t appear to be going anywhere any time soon.

Between the loss two years ago, Louisville’s brand of bully-ball, and Rick Pitino, it’s easy not to like Louisville.

15. Michigan State

January February IZZO April May June July August September October November December

Chances are, as a Michigan fan, you probably don’t like Michigan State. It’s alright – I don’t either (although I should note that there are plenty of amazing MSU fans that I interact with on Twitter on a regular basis. I know some of y’all are reading this so just know that it’s nothing personal – strictly business). And, to be quite frank, Michigan State’s success is bad for business, as far as Michigan’s concerned.

Predictably, the national media focused on East Lansing and fawned over Tom Izzo like he was the reincarnation of Dr. James Naismith himself – and the worst part is, you can’t really argue. Michigan State has become one of the premier programs in college basketball because of the Spartans’ success in March. It’s hard to admit, but it’s true. And it makes it even easier to resent them and pull hard against them, no matter the opponent.

As for the whole “Big Ten solidarity” thing: again, IT’S BAD FOR MICHIGAN IF MICHIGAN STATE MAKES A FINAL FOUR OR WINS A NATIONAL TITLE. Beilein and Izzo will be locked in some head-to-head recruiting battles over the next few cycles; highly-touted prospects will come down to a choice between Michigan and Michigan State. It’s not good for Michigan if MSU continues their surprise run through this NCAA Tournament, not even close.

And, of course, a lot of things really go without saying, but hey, why not go through one of them anyways. Let’s consider Michigan State’s fabled “Little Sister” chant as, well, somewhat microcosmic, a clever commentary on what happens when the hegemonic gaze is refocused back at the one who gazes… hah no, it’s just a terribly uncreative, reactionary chant that reeks of misogyny and an inferiority complex. “It’s an isolated thing,” you say. Not when the whole student section chants it. Way to go, guys. Hearing that at Crisler after they punked us at our own place made my blood boil. State absolutely hates us and they’re under our skin, definitely, especially considering their recent run of football dominance.

Of course, there are plenty of great Spartan fans out there, and for them, I wish nothing but the best – save for a humbling loss at the hands of my Oklahoma Sooners. And for all the recent sports success in East Lansing, it’s only natural to become anxious – when will something go wrong? Not this year, as State exceeded every expectation and made the Sweet Sixteen… so let’s just hope they won’t go any further.